


The Fate of the Phoenix ~ Heroes - The battle of Wakanda

by orphan_account



Series: The Fate of the Phoenix ~ Heroes [7]
Category: Avengers : Age of Ultron, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Heroes path, The Fate of the Phoenix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 16:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7368973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers have found Ultron in Wakanda. A fight had been engaged.</p>
<p>Wanda Maximoff had submitted Natasha, Thor and Steve to a strong illusion.</p>
<p>Tony had just gone to prevent the Hulk from destroying all of the city.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fate of the Phoenix ~ Heroes - The battle of Wakanda

**Author's Note:**

> This work is a part of The Fate of the Phoenix ~ Heroes.

Rachel ran in the dark hall of the wreck, looking for any teammate. She just had defeated the last enemies and was attempting to join the others, breathing heavily and sweat sticking to her forehead.

"Guys ! Can someone hear me ?", she called through her earpiece. "I'm done, here."

" _Natasha, I could really use a lullaby_ ", Tony said.

His voice contained a hint of panic that the professor Summers did not appreciate. Her heart skipped a beat. If Tony wanted Natasha to use the lullaby, it meant that the Hulk had been unleashed. Which had not been planned at all.

"What ? Where's Bruce ?!", she asked.

" _In the very city. I've never seen him like this... The Maximoff girl must be behind it. So, Nat ?_ "

" _That's not gonna happen_ ", Clint answered, sounding clearly frustrated. " _Not for a while. The whole team is down. They are like... daydreaming. With red eyes. Pretty eerie delirium."_

"If it's still the Maximoff girl, I might be able to do something with it", Rachel said, still walking in the wreck. "I join you, I break the illusion and I go help Tony."

" _Fine_ ".

" _I'm calling in Hulkbuster. Rachel, you'd better be quick._ "

"Right."

After these words, she accelerated an ran as fast as she could. They had no time to waste.

She did not expect to find someone that quickly. She had just turned at an angle a few seconds later that she already was seeing Thor, kneeling on the floor, as if he was going to faint. She had never seen him in such a state.

Rachel ran to his side and looked at his face. His eyes had turned red and a strange red fog was surrounding his face. Wanda's mark. Rachel grunted when she sounded the nordic god's mind : she could not break the illusion that easily. She had to penetrate his mind and liberate him from within.

Inhaling deeply, Rachel entered Thor's spirit.

What she saw left her breathless.

She had arrived in an asgardian dark courtyard. And, in the middle of the crowd, there was Thor, his body shining and throwing lightnings all around him. He was destroying everyone, people exploded when the thunder touched them. Heimdall was talking to him, but the she-mutant did not hear what he was saying, for she was not part of the illusion, and his orange eyes were now white, he was blind. And the god of thunder roared, his eyes open wide and becoming dull, as if he was going mad.

Apparently, Wanda had imposed him a sort of version of one of his worst fears : causing his people's fall.

Rachel concentrated her power and forced Thor awake in a wave of invisible psychic force.

She was rejected out of his spirit and they were back in the wreck.

Thor grunted, one of his viking groans, blinked a few times and glared around you. When he recognized Rachel, his brows furrowed.

"Lady Rachel ? What... What happened ?"

"Wanda Maximoff get into your head. What you've just seen was not real, understood ?", the she-mutant answered. "Stay here, you can't fight like this. Join Clint when you will be able to walk."

And she stood, running to find Natasha and Steve.

"I am perfectly able to...", Thor started, standing up as well.

He had not made a step that he already was falling on the ground.

Rachel ran down a succession of dirty stairs. She knew she had to be quick and effective. And she also knew that calling for the others was useless, since they were unable to hear anyone in their state.

Luckily, she found, on the ground, an object that greatly helped her. Steve's helmet had been abandoned here. She bent, took it and kept on running, looking for Captain America, the one she was the most worried about.

She quickly saw, him, staggering like a sleepwalker. Relieved to have found him, at last, Rachel walked toward him.

"Steve !"

She went in front of him, staring in his red eyes.

She put her hand upon his forehead and got into his head, determinate to freed him.

Thor's vision had dumbfounded her.

Steve's illusion broke her heart and made her stomach burn.

They were back in the forties. Men in military uniforms and ladies wearing dresses were dancing, drinking, laughing, singing.

Rachel understood what was happening. The Second World War was over.

The professor Summers turned around, looking for Steve, searching him through the crowd, and, finally, made deaf by the loud music, she saw him.

He was wearing his uniform. His hair were a little longer than he used to cut them, like he wore them during the last century. A genuinely happy smile was lightening his whole face, and he stared fondly at the woman he was dancing with.

Rachel knew this woman. She had seen her in Steve's photo albums, in the museum one dedicated to Captain America. In the S.H.I.E.L.D's files, among its creators' faces.

Peggy Carter. Smiling and swinging between his arms.

And she felt her throat crushing, a wave of jealousy, deception and solitude washed over her. Because what she was seeing was what Steve desired the most, and she was teared apart between her will of breaking immediately this illusion and letting Steve live his deepest wish. In which she, his companion, was missing.

Allowing him ten seconds more in this fantasy, Rachel counted down. When eight seconds had transpired, she started to concentrate her might and, when she arrived at ten, she unleashed the power she had gathered to make Rogers wake up.

They came back to reality in no seconds.

Steve immobilized himself, as if he was waking from a long sleep. He threw a circular look at the room and, eventually seeing Rachel, he sighed.

"Are you okay ?", she asked, her voice colder than she intended.

"... I... I don't know...", he breathed out.

"Keep still and stay here. You'll feel better in a couple of minutes", Rachel assured him, trying to speak softly but failing to do so.

She ran away from him without a word more.

" _Rachel ?! Are you done ?! I really would appreciate a little help over here !_ ", Tony yelled in the communication canal, interrupted by a Hulk's shout.

"Only Nat is left", she answered angrily.

" _You still have to reach the city, for God's sake !_ ", Stark screamed out.

"I'm not Charles Xavier ! I can't liberate them that easily !", Rachel grunted, panting and tired of running. "And stop yelling at me ! I'm the youngest one, but I'm not a child !"

" _Rachel, we'll be fine, go help Tony_ ", Clint said in her earpiece. " _We can wait. Go stop Banner !"_

"... Right. I'll borrow Steve's motorbike", Rachel groaned.

She took a deep breath and, ignoring her aching muscles, she ran to got out of the wreck and join the Quinjet. Out of breath, she arrived to their jet, entered it and opened the hold. A few seconds later, she was on the bike, driving in the city's direction, her red hair flying behind her. Huge clouds of smoke and dust were climbing toward the sky and the she-mutant already could hear the Hulk's roars.

" _Hey, professor, I didn't ask you how you wanted to calm our green friend down !_ ", Stark called, almost joking, apparently trying to make her forgive his previous exaggerated words.

"Let's say that Nat's delicate lullaby is like using a toothpick, and that what I'm planning to do is like using a shielded tank !", Rachel answered, finally entering the city. "Where are you ?!"

" _Well, just follow the shouts and the collapsing buildings !_ ", Tony said.

Following these was pretty simple : Tony, in the Hulkbuster suit, had just crashed the Hulk at the top of a building under construction and made it collapse in an unbearable racket of stones and iron. Avoiding destroyed cars and panic-stricken running people was way harder. Rachel was slaloming in the streets as best as she could, hoping for Steve's bike's tyre to be resistant and for her not to be late.

Rachel knew she was getting closer when she saw a crowd of policemen, standing in a row, pointing their guns in the same direction. Toward the Hulk, sitting in the debris. He was standing up and, next to him, the Hulkbuster armor was laying on the ground.

Tony had been knocked down. Rachel was now alone.

Here was coming the hardest part of her plan.

The she-mutant jumped off of Steve's bike, pushed two policemen aside and ran toward the Hulk, earning yells of stupefaction and misunderstanding from the crowd.

"BRUCE !"

She stopped a few meters away from the Hulk. His face was deformed by hatred and rage, and he gazed down at Rachel.

The Hulk lift his arms and went to punch her with all its forces.

Rachel opened her arms.

The Hulk's fist met a transparent wall of psychic energy, which briefly shook and blurred under the monster's strength..

Not understanding what was happening, it looked in front of it, and, after another attempt to hit Rachel, screamed in anger.

"Sorry, Bruce...", the she-mutant whispered.

What she was going to do was far from being nice.

Folding her elbows and tensing her fingers, Rachel created four other psychic walls, confining the Hulk in a psychomagnetic cube.

A power struggle between the Hulk and the Phoenix was engaged. The first one to break would be destroyed by the other.

And the Hulk reacted exactly the way Rachel wanted it to. He started to get furious, which was a huge understatement : he was striking the walls with an inimaginable strength, his shouts seemed to be about to break his vocal cords, the Hulk was getting mad, and Rachel was struggling to maintain the psychic cube. She arched her back under the efforts, gritted her teeth and felt an horrible headache coming. Panting and sweating, she started to approach her hands from each other. The cube restraining, pressing down on the Hulk.

The Hulk roared louder than ever.

Rachel violently crossed her arms.

The psychic walls totally compressed the Hulk.

And forced it to turn back into his human form.

In less than a second, the Hulk was shrinking, his skin was losing his green color and Bruce Banner collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Rachel, exhausted, about to pass out, staggered toward him and let herself fall on her knees, kneeling next to him and putting his head on her thighs. He was breathing, but he was weak, she had gravely hurt him.

All around them, sirens were ringing, people were shouting.

The battle had ended.


End file.
